Firing outside shop sparks panic

Fear gripped Dera Baba Nanak township after two motorcycle-borne persons opened fire outside a general store on Monday evening.

Shopkeepers were quick to down shutters of their establishments as residents rushed to their homes after listening to the sound of a gunshot. Incidentally, the owner of the shop, Mahesh Kumar, said he had been receiving regular threats from Germany-based gangster Jeevan Fauji that his “men would assassinate him soon.”

Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said three months ago, he had asked Batala SSP Suhail Qasim Mir to issue gun licenes to both Mahesh Kumar and another shopkeeper Sunil Kumar. “Both are on the hit list of Jeevan Fauji,” he said. The SSP, however, said the files of both Mahesh and Sunil had been processed and the licenses would be issued soon.